Simply Be
by iknowuknow
Summary: A man saves a boy from trouble, and ends up learning a bit in the process. Or in other words, a oneshot on a possible way I could see things going. Some death happened, though, which I didn't expect... It's only a little obvious who it is, though... You can read whatever you want into it. It's only somewhat blatant, but the ending is left vague.


**Should I be writing a mysterious and somewhat sad oneshot in the middle of the night when I wake up at 5 AM? Probably not.**

 **Does the muse strike at inopportune times? Of course**

 **I'm sure you'll figure out who's who pretty quick, but humor me. I don't own the one's you know.**

He could understand why she had wanted to give the man a chance. They'd done the back and forth for years before getting settled.

He also understood why she eventually left him. Fun is great until responsibilities are involved.

Which brought him to the part he couldn't understand, and the reason he stood in a dark alley in San Francisco defending a boy he hadn't seen in some time, but would recognize anywhere.

"Get outta here, old man. We ain't got no issues with you," sneered a boy of about sixteen with dark tan skin and dangerous eyes.

"This ain't none of your business," added a boy no more than thirteen hanging onto a smaller kid.

He just shook his head. "The moment you set your sights on this boy, you made it my business."

"How's that so?" asked another teen, nervously running a hand through greasy black hair.

Dangerous eyes just laughed, "He's a cop, man, or was one. I bet he knows the kid's mom and dad. Hell, maybe he _is_ the kid's dad. God knows nobody's seen any daddy around for him."

"He's not my dad," the captive boy spat, struggling to get free.

"That doesn't mean I'm letting you get yourself killed," the man told him.

The boy just frowned and tried to slip out of his shirt.

"Quit struggling," his captor growled.

The man just walked over and plucked the boy out of his grimy grasp.

It was about that moment that the street urchin realized two things - one, his friends had abandoned him, and two, the man in front of him meant business.

He quickly turned heel and ran, never looking back.

"I was handling it," the boy told the man.

The man just shook his head, leading the kid to his car. "Sure seemed like it."

The kid huffed, but got in upon reaching the car. "I don't need rescuing. Why are you even here?"

"You sound like your father," the man replied, not quite insultingly. "And we both know your mom would kill me if something happened to you that I could have prevented."

The boy just shrugged.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, as neither spoke until the car sat in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

"You shouldn't worry her like that."

The boy just scowled. "Why does it even matter?"

"Because you're not the only one who got hurt, Julian. I sometimes think you forget that."

Julian shrugged, "She doesn't act hurt."

"She wouldn't," the man replied. "She's too strong for that. How long has it been?"

"Since we heard from him? Four years. We gave up."

"I'd be upset if you hadn't."

Julian just sighed. "Sometimes, I still hope, you know?"

The man nodded. "I do know. I remember what that felt like."

"Your dad left, too?" Julian asked in surprise. "Mom never told me that."

"She probably never felt it was her place to share."

"You know her pretty well."

The man just shrugged. "I know I haven't been around much these past few years, but I did work closely with her once upon a time. Life happens, though, no matter how we may wish that weren't the case."

Julian nodded. "So why are you here? You never answered me earlier."

The man just sighed. "I had some business to attend to."

"It's been five years."

He nodded. "I'm surprised you know that. I'm surprised you know a lot of things."

"Are you really? Even if I weren't, you know, me…" Julian trailed off, playing with a bit of string coming loose from his jeans.

"What do you mean?"

"Mom talks about you. A lot. She knows how hard it was for you. When you lost them."

The man spared him a sad smile. "The past is passed. It is the job of the dead to rest, and the job of the living to live."

"That's not something you just get over."

"I suppose not." They sat a few minutes in silence, then the man felt it right to continue. "She would have been 11 last month."

Julian nodded. "I know."

He had lost them both in one fatal accident, and he hadn't been the same ever since.

He retired from the job he loved so dearly, and left himself mostly at ends. He wasn't that old, having only just reached his mid-fifties a few years prior. He had been finding odd things to do, and had finally done some of the traveling he'd always dreamed of doing someday. A part of him felt satisfied in all he had accomplished. Above all, though, he just felt lonely. He didn't know how he ended up in this city, and certainly not how he wound up in just the right place at just the right time. He supposed maybe he could let Fate have this one, just this once.

"You should go inside," he told the boy. "I'm sure she's worried sick."

"You should come with," Julian responded, giving him a look that suggested this was not a question.

"She doesn't want to see me."

"Are you blind, or just stupid?"

"What?" the man asked in surprise. Out of all the things he had expected out of the nine-year-old's mouth, this was not one of them.

"You heard me. I tried to drop you hints, but you don't seem to see what I'm trying to get across."

"And that would be?"

"I'm pretty sure my mom is in love with you, stupid, and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see it. You don't see the way her face lights up when you call at night. She doesn't sleep when you don't call; did you know that? I doubt she would have told you."

"I want to believe you, but I'm having a hard time getting my head around it. Especially because you're way too young to be this perceptive. How did you get so mature?"

Julian shrugged. "I guess I just grew up kind of fast. My dad left us a wreck, and we all know it. I was lying when I said she doesn't seem like she's hurting. I know she is. I honestly think he made it worse by writing and stopping by once or twice a year. I'm kind of…"

"Relieved?"

"Is that bad?"

The man shook his head, "No, Julian, it's not. What he did to you two - it's not okay. I hope, for your sake, he just leaves you guys alone forever. To take off like that, without even a proper goodbye… I swear, even if I were still a cop, I would track him down and shoot him."

"You tried. Mom told me."

"He doesn't want to be found."

Julian shook his head, "And that's okay. He's like a tornado of destruction, and we're finally putting the final pieces back together."

The man nodded. "You're a really smart kid."

"Are you surprised?"

"I shouldn't be."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes longer.

"If you won't come in with me, will you at least walk me to the door?"

The man sighed, but undid his seatbelt.

Julian, though hopeful something good would come of this, still felt apprehensive. He was going to be in trouble. He had barely raised a hand to the door before it flew open.

"Oh, God. Julian Carl Spencer, do you know how worried I've been? Half the city is out looking for you!"

He hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry, Mom. It was a stupid thing to do, and it won't happen again. But, Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't need half the city looking for me. It only took one man." He looked behind him. "Please, just man up and get over here?"

The man stepped out of the shadows and walked up to the door.

Julian smiled, while his mother seemed ready to cry or faint, all at the same time.

"Carlton," she spoke as the breath left her body, then reached forward to pull him into an awkward hug. "I have missed you so much."

He smiled, putting his arms around her lightly and burying his nose in her hair. "I've missed you, too, Juliet."

"Please come inside? At least for a little while? I'm sure you have things to do and places to go, but-"

He shook his head, "No, I'm exactly where I want to be."

And with that, they both understood. More would need to be said later. Right now, though, they were just content to simply be.

 **Updated 12/17 to fit in with existing canon**


End file.
